NCG's Golf Glossary: What is lag?

Remember when you were at school and you used be fascinated by words which sounded the same but had two different meanings?

You know, like hear and here. Bare and bear. There and their.

Maybe it was just me…

Weather and whether (just stop, Ed).

Anyhow, this week’s glossary falls on a word that is spelled the same but means two entirely different things in golf.

Word of the week: Lag

Let’s get the easiest out of the way.

Those of us who aren’t particularly interested in the mechanics of the swing (I don’t get any further than…hit the ball) will use ‘lag’ most often when referring to putting.

A lag putt is one which we don’t expect to get. It’s so far away, it’s in another postcode. We’re simply concerned with trying to cosy it up to the hole.

If it drops, brilliant! But that’s not the main aim.

What we are trying to leave is a kick-in – a putt so small that even an idiot like me can’t send it firing past the hole.

That was straightforward, wasn’t it?

lag

But there is another meaning of lag. Strap yourself in, because this needs careful reading.

Lag is one for the swing gurus, the golfing mystics. It’s a hidden move, so you must have faith that it is actually there.

Have you ever noticed that player who barely seems to hit the ball at all but sends a drive arrowing 300 yards down the fairway?

It’s a rhythmic swish, without any effort, and yet there it is – flying through the air with a penetrating flight.

What has happened is called ‘creating lag’.

Achieved by maintaining a wrist angle between the shaft and the left arm in the downswing, you can get a massive amount of extra clubhead speed right at the point you are about to hit the ball.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a move that generates a chunk of extra yardage.

Can you do it?

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